Sixty-five high school basketball players showcased their game over the weekend, as the Arizona Basketball Coaches Association and the Phoenix Suns and Phoenix Mercury hosted the second annual Boys All Star Games at US Airways Arena in downtown Phoenix. A crowd estimated at 800-900 was on hand for the match-up between the East and West squads in the senior compeition, which was followed by a sophomore/junior All Star game. Suns coach, Alvin Gentry, played a big part in the program, addressing the teams before the game and then greeting each player individually as they went on the floor. ASU center and All Pac 10 selection, Jeff Pendergraph, made a guest appearance. Dan Davignon from ArizonaVarsity.com provided a follow-up summary to Valley coaches. Here's a portion of that report: The closest game of the evening was the 4A-5A Senior contest. The North team was led by Nick Markovich with 19 (Basha), Booker T Washington with 14 (Chavez), Eric Hunt with 11 (MVT), and Marques Edwards with 11 (Chavez). Hunt and Edwards led the team on defense and shut down the middle on the South. Aaron Anderson led the South with 16 (Marana Mt. View), Danny Maman had 14 (Desert Mtn.), Tyler Miller with 13 (Basha), Marcus Ayala with 11 (Maryvale), and Jon Hawkins with 9 and a fistful of assists (Greenway). Brandon Duliakis (Ironwood Ridge) was a force in the middle on both ends on the glass and defense. It was a seesaw battle near the end but the North pulled it out 90-89. The story of the game was Washington who had a tremendous slam that brought the crowd up, excelled in all facets of the game, and won the overall state shooting. (Continued...)" />

The underclassmen coaches were East Coach Scott Lovely (Arcadia) and his staff of Stephen Danford, Jesus Flores, and Alvin Vesey, and West Coach Ben Hurley and Marty Roth (Amphi) and Mike Serwa (Peoria). Before the game the BabyGirlz performed to several hundred fans while the players stood in the tunnel and watched. DJ Tyger from Power 98.3 FM spun records on his turntables and the last contest kicked off. It was the high percentage shooting from the East squad that made the difference both early and late. Colin Woods led all with 18 (Horizon), Zeke Chapman lit it up from three with 16 (Chaparral), Jake Pitcher 16 (Skyline), Christian Bower had 14 (Mesquite), and Shawn King had 10 (Gilbert), Andy Jones 9 (Marcos), and Judd Welfringer with 8 (Basha). Brendan Pineda (Tolleson) got the sportsmanship award for sprinting across the court to help his teammate up off the court after a nasty collision, a kid he had probably never played with before. The West struggled from the longer pro arc most of the game but came out after halftime on fire behind Wooridge, Burnett, and a Sims trey, and closed to within 7 points late in the game. It would prove to be too little too late and the longer court combined with the longer game of 20 minute halves may have worn them down in the end. They were led by Michael Perez with 15 (Tucson Pueblo), Royce Woolridge with 11 (Sunnyslope), Brandon Burnett with 11 (Tucson Cienega), Jordan Sims 9 (Liberty), Jake Howe 8 (Bradshaw Mtn). The 1A-3A South team’s Brenin Angle and Big Jon Orr from Thatcher each had 18 to team up with Bo Barnes’ 30 points (Scottsdale Christian) and Jordan Kerpan had 14 (Valley Christian). Legendary Thatcher Coach Kenny Smith coached won his last high school game after 27 years and 10 state championship games. Smith is moving on to Eastern Arizona CC. The Gila Monsters won’t be hurting for new talent next year. Cody York with 21 (Payson), Stacey Berg with 21 (Winslow), Trevor Little with 17 (Chino Valley) and Payton Flake with 11 (Snowflake) all had big games for the North smallball squad. Other Senior game coaches who went above and beyond for the games this year were Ricky Greer from Winslow, the big North 1A-3A Coach and the first competitor in the building, Joe Bustos (North), who had to rush back from his nephews graduation in Albuquerque to make the game, Mike Ellsworth (Chandler), who would never miss the chance to coach Wolves fireball Jason Edwards just one more time, and girls coach Larry Smith (Coolidge), who watched and studied the boys games to get ready for his girls smallball game next week.

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